> without a marketable skillset, layoff is indeed to be feared

Which will probably soon encompass a large amount of Devs. large productivity increases usually mean job losses.

About 1% of the US workforce works for minimum wage

There's a lot of minimum wages. Are you talking about the federal minimum wage ($7.50/hr), or the minimum wage local to the worker ($15.00/hr where I live)?

Is that stat accounting for those working in the dark market (ie without proper documentation)